Goettl Air Conditioning Keeps Its Reputation Intact

In 1932, two brothers named Adam and Gust Goettl started Goettl Air Conditioning in the heat of the desert Southwest. They introduced the evaporative cooling system and the refrigerated air conditioning to the area, which changed the lifestyle of the populace for the better. It had a lot to do with the expansion of the population in desert communities because they could live more comfortably.

Goettl Air Conditioning has worked with five generations of families over the years and became known for their friendly customer service and their ability to be competently knowledgeable about all things pertaining to heating and air conditioning. If someone needed anything in the way of heating or cooling for their homes, the word was, “Call Goettl.”

The company changed hands from time to time, but the ethics of good service, professionally performed never got too far away from the original intent. However, that changed a bit in the late nineties when a large national management company purchased Goettl and things began to go downhill rapidly. Check out glassdoor.com for more info.

To be fair, the management company did what it thought best, but realistically, one cannot effectively run a service company from afar when daily needs of customers must be met and the people closest to the problem must be empowered to make the tough decisions to accomplish that.

In 2013, Ken Goodrich purchased Goettl Air Conditioning and he was well aware of the problems. There was little if any profit and customers were leaving like clockwork. There was not the wherewithal available to take care of daily needs let alone any available for long-term growth. There was a pending lawsuit due to past shady business practices.

Goodrich, who had a history of taking stumbling businesses and turning them into profit-making wonders was right at home. In short order he instituted programs that restored customer and employee confidence, and today the Goettl Air Conditioning Company enjoys annual profits of $50 million.

BizJournals in a recent article wrote about the other decision that Goodrich made that was very influential as well in the turnaround. Goodrich acquired Walton’s Heating and Air in Southern California. Walton’s had always emphasized commercial HVAC while Goettl had emphasized residential in Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas. Joining the two companies gave the organization a one-two punch that increased revenue on a tenfold basis. Visit Legacy.com to know more

As Todd Longbrake, former owner of Walton’s put it, “Joining us together was a smart thing to do because it increased both of our markets beyond what we could have done on our own.”